Brave: The shellycoat hunt
by Crutchwork
Summary: "In the mountains of rural scotland a bear of a man panted up the side of a mountain. His face was covered in a bush of flaming red and his beard grew into fuzzy curls. His hands were big as dustbin lids and his torso was like the wide trunk of a grand tree. He had a slight limp as he was missing a leg. " No spoilers included.


In the mountains of rural scotland a bear of a man panted up the side of a mountain. His face was covered in a bush of flaming red and his beard grew into fuzzy curls. His hands were big as dustbin lids and his torso was like the wide trunk of a grand tree. He had a slight limp as he was missing a leg. It was a burden from battle. But when ever asked about it the great firery man would erupt with laughter.

'And that is why wooden legs were invented'. He would say, disguising the sorrow he truly felt.

At the foot of this great tree was a little girl of great spirit. She had a tangled mess of long red hair which she wrapped around her neck as a scarf. Her face was that of a cherub and her nose was like an imp. She was dressed in a tweed cape. Like the man she propped herself up the mountain with a walking stick.

'Hurry up dad!' she said in a squeeky voice. 'Hes going to get away!'

The father smiled. 'Easy there Merida. Shellycoats are slow. Hes got all those shells all over him remember?'

'Aye, but hes not going _this _slow. Hurry up!' Merida insisted. She was a tough and bossy lass. Like most little girls her age she was made out of sugar, spice and a lord's portion of feist.

The father puffed and blew louder up the mountain side. He carried a fat satchel. Its contents were mysterious and random to the average person. They were about halfway up the mountain when they reached a stream clogged by algae and other water weeds.

'Ach, we were too slow.' Merida muttered feeling defeated.

'Well, we know where that boogie man is hiding now, so all's we have to do is make the trap.'

The father layed the satchel on the ground. From it he produced a jar of salt, a bright green sea shell, some mead, jam and a knife. He began to carefully pour the salt in an intricate twisting pattern like that of a celtic circle. In the middle of the pattern he placed the shiny sea shell.

'I hope the shell is clean enough. I was up all last night polishing it.' Merida mused.

'I know, I could hear ya searching for a pot of green polish.' He laughed.

'Well I got a pot didn't I?' She said, putting her hands on her hips.

'Aye, I never can know what I have cluttered in that home of ours. I think the hobbs could have put it there.'

'There you go blaming it on the hobbs again.' She tutted mixing the jam with the mead. The uncle did not even have to tell her what to do next. She was planning this all week. She sloshed the mushy contents of the jammy mead all around the shell, taking care not to get any on it. The smell was overwhelmingly sweet. Like strawberries and honey. She stood up and looked at her handy work and pouted.

'So when the shellycoat comes out he will see the shell and try to get it.'

'Aye.'

'But when he finds the salt maze he'll have to use all his wits to find his way to the centre.'

'Aye.'

'Then he'll eat the meady jam because they love strawberrys.'

'Aye.' He nodded.

'When he eats it he'll be drunk and lose his wits so he won't find his way out again.'

'Aye.'

'But what do we have a knife for?'

'You see lass, if we are going to catch this shellycoat we need a bit of luck. And whats one of the luckiest creatures in the world.'

'Fairies.'

'Aye, What we need is a lock of fairy hair and is'nt it lucky we happen to have a sidhe right here?'

'What? I'm not having any of my hair cut.' She crossed her arms.

'Sorry lass, we only need a lock.'

'Only a lock?'

'Well all of it would give us the best chance but a lock would do fine.'

Merida thought for a long moment. On one hand she could catch a shellycoat and lose a bit of her hair and on the other she could leave here with her hair uncut for years but no shellycoat.

'Oh fine then, give the knife here.' She groaned.


End file.
